Today in disproportionate responses, the local Broward County police union has a clear message for the Miami Dolphins: If you don’t stand up during the national anthem, we’re not going to protect your lives.
According to the Miami Herald, the union has requested that Broward Sheriff’s Office police officers refuse to escort the Dolphins to their game, a week after four Miami players kneeled during the national anthem in a protest of police misconduct and general mistreatment of black people in America.
How does this union rationalize punishing players for a peaceful protest? Jeffery Bell, president of the International Union of Police Associations, Local 6020, explained to the Herald that, for reasons unclear, free speech does not extend to the NFL.
“I respect their right to have freedom of speech. However, in certain organizations and certain jobs you give up that right of your freedom of speech temporary while you serve that job or while you play in an NFL game,” Bell said.
Even if you think the players are wrong to protest or are disrespecting the national anthem, this shouldn’t be complicated: Police officers are paid to protect people, in this case the Miami Dolphins, regardless of whether they agree with them politically. Sometimes police have to protect white supremacists, sometimes they have to protect corrupt politicians, sometimes they have to protect bands that make bad music. They don’t get to pick and choose, because in America everyone, at least theoretically, has a right to safety.
Bell and his union are essentially saying that because a few Dolphins players don’t think black people should be disproportionately subjected to police brutality and other forms of oppression, they don’t deserve protection. A country where police officers choose who deserves protection is not a country any of us should want to live in.
If anything, this statement by the Broward Country police union reinforces why some Dolphins players felt the need to protest in the first place.
